


Let me steal this moment from you now

by riverwrenwrites



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Everyone Needs A Hug, Five loves his family, Gen, I'll add more tags as i go, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 02, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, because I only have a vague idea of what I'm doing uwu, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26093017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverwrenwrites/pseuds/riverwrenwrites
Summary: Five has had a hell of a few weeks and now, after successfully preventing the apocalypse (twice) and restoring the timeline (twice), he can finally start getting back to normality. Trouble is, his siblings are just as distant and dysfunctional as ever, and the life he's been craving for the last 45 years still feels like more of a fantasy than a reality. Once again, it looks like he's going to have to be the one to try and bring his family back together.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Allison Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Diego Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 71
Kudos: 579





	1. Luther

Three weeks ago, Five broke his five year contract with The Commission, time travelled back to his family, and found himself stuck in the body of his thirteen year old self. 

Two weeks ago, he time travelled again. This time to save his family from armageddon after their sister blew up the moon. 

Five days ago, he time travelled _again_. This time to bring his family _back_ after scattering them in the past, reuniting, and preventing a nuclear war.

Two days ago, after correcting a major screw up in the timeline that had  _ technically  _ wiped them out of existence, he and his family time travelled again. To April 2nd 2019. No apocalypse, no Sparrow Academy. 

It was now April 4th. Dad was still dead. No meteors had fallen from the sky. The house was still standing, and his siblings were still in one piece. Physically, anyway. Now that the initial buzz from saving the world and fixing the timeline had worn off, Five had started to notice his family drifting apart again, trying to get back into some kind of normality again. The main problem, he was starting to realise, was that none of them had ever had a  _ normal  _ to begin with. Their lives had been an endless series of increasingly implausible situations, and all they could do now was pick themselves up and try to carry on. 

Currently Five’s new normal seemed to be spending his afternoons alone in the lounge, as he was now, helping himself to dad’s best liquor. It wasn’t stealing. The old man’s dead and, since he’d never left a will, everything in the house was now free game. But he still got a strange thrill out of it, carefully prying the cabinet doors open while his father’s painted face watched him from across the room. He pulled out a particularly expensive looking bourbon and poured himself a generous glass before hoisting himself up onto one of the bar stools, still not  _ quite  _ accustomed to the way his feet dangled off the ground. If Delores were here, she’d probably make some snide remark about his day drinking, but she wasn’t, so instead he was forced to sit with the silence, and his own face staring back at him from the oil painting above the mantle. 

He wasn’t actually sure  _ where  _ his siblings were today. He’d seen Luther briefly at breakfast, and caught a brief glimpse of Diego as he slipped out of the front door first thing that morning, but he hadn’t seen Allison, Klaus, or Vanya all day. It wasn’t exactly  _ unusual _ . They were all adults with their own lives, and it would be unreasonable of him to expect them to sit around the house with him all day. But he’d seen them all hurt too many times in the last few weeks, and it was hard to ignore the feeling of unease in his stomach when he didn’t know where they were. 

A crash from the floor above gave away the whereabouts of one of them. Abandoning his drink on the bartop, he blinked upstairs and made his way towards the source of the noise. 

He could hear a low voice muttering a string of curses as he reached the door to dad’s study, and when he pushed it open he found Luther, scrambling to try and pick up a pile of white fabric packages. Each time he bent over to pick one up, a few more spilled out of his arms. 

“You know, it would probably be quicker to make two trips.” 

Luther dropped the rest of the packages and spun around defensively at the comment, relaxing again when he saw him standing in the doorway. 

“Oh. Hey, Five. Didn’t realise you were still here.”

“Where else would I be?” 

There was a pause as Luther considered the question before nodding slowly. “Fair enough.” 

Five gestured towards the packages. “Need a hand?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Luther said, looking down at the mess he’d made. “Thanks.”

While Luther started gathering them up in his arms again, Five crouched down to inspect one. Each package was sealed with red tape, with one of their father’s company logos printed on the front, and a date scribbled on the label. The one he was holding, labelled as “day 1300-1325”, was signed in Luther’s handwriting, and it only took him a few seconds to figure out what they were. 

“These are from your moon mission,” He said quietly as he ran his thumb over the seal. 

“Yeah. Turns out that was a load of bull.” Luther paused and looked up at him, shrugging. “There was no mission. I sent all this research back, and dad never even opened them.”

“Shit.” 

During his forty five years away, Five had never  _ forgotten  _ what an asshole their father could be, but it always hit him like a punch to the gut every time he heard about what his siblings had been through. More than a few times now he’d found himself wondering if he’d been the lucky one, escaping from his influence so early on. Opposite him, Luther was staring at the package in his hand, with a look of utter defeat on his face. 

“How long have you known?” 

“Uh…” Luther’s brow furrowed as he thought. “A year. I found these a couple of days before the apocalypse. The  _ first  _ apocalypse.” 

Sighing, he slumped heavily onto the floor next to Five and hung his head. 

“I spent almost thirty years worshipping the ground he walked on, pushing everyone else away, and for what?” He tossed the pack he was holding back onto the pile. “The worst thing is that it seems so obvious now, you know? Looking back on everything. I can’t believe it took being shipped off to the  _ moon  _ to make me realise he never cared.”

“Yeah, well, hindsight is twenty-twenty,” Five said quietly, knowing all too well how easy it was to let the regret swallow you up. “It wasn’t your fault, Luther. He manipulated you. He manipulated all of us. I never knew how he did it, but he always knew  _ exactly  _ what buttons to push.” 

Luther nodded. “What an asshole, right?”

If someone had told Five when he was a teenager, that he’d one day hear those words coming out of Luther’s mouth, he would have laughed them out the room. Hell, if someone had told him a few  _ days  _ ago he probably still wouldn’t have believed it. But here he was, cussing their dad out like it was the most normal thing in the world. It made him wonder how much more he might have missed while he was busy worrying about the apocalypse. 

“You know,” Luther continued, pulling him back out of his thoughts. “The Academy was my life for  _ so  _ long, and now that it’s gone… I don’t know who I’m supposed to be anymore. I wasted four years on the moon and another year in the sixties and now suddenly I’m in my  _ thirties  _ and I haven’t even  _ lived  _ yet.”

“Talk to me when you reach your fifties,” Five quipped, feeling a small sense of relief when the corner of Luther’s mouth twitched into a smile. 

“Yeah, I keep forgetting that.” He hung his head again and Five sighed. 

“I do know a little of what it’s like though,” He found himself saying. “Not getting a chance to live, I mean. I spent the last forty five years trying to save the world from extinction, and now everything’s back to normal, but I don’t have much of a normal to go back to.” 

“Right!” Luther sat upright, his face brightening a little. “I have to start building a life for myself, and I don’t even know where to  _ start _ .”

“Well, you seemed to be managing okay in Dallas,” Five pointed out and Luther quirked his eyebrow at him. 

“I was working for the mafia.”

“And I was working as a time travelling assassin for five years. We all have our vices, Luther.” 

“Fair enough.” Luther nodded slowly. “It was different in Dallas. Nobody knew who I was or where I came from, and it was a lot easier to move on when my old life didn’t exist anymore. But here?” He pointed to the wall, decorated with awards and photos from their childhood. “I’ve gotta figure out how to live with myself after I wasted all those years.”

Five nodded. He got it, maybe more than Luther realised, and as much of a pain in the ass as his brother could be, the thought of him being swamped by those same feelings made him nauseous. Looking down at the moon package he was holding, he sighed. Part of him wanted to make them all disappear from existence, to take that discovery away from him and restore some of the blissful naivety that had saved Luther from many a breakdown during their childhood, and probably during his adulthood too. Another part of him wondered if that would even make a difference. All of a sudden he felt thirteen again, saving countless lives but still unable to save the people he loved from their father. 

“What were you gonna do with all these?” He asked, looking back up at him. 

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Burn them?” 

“That’s usually more Klaus’ thing.”

“Or Diego’s.” Luther’s smirk was quickly replaced with a look of realisation when he noticed Five’s confusion. “Oh, right, you missed  _ his  _ arson phase. Although actually it was less of an arson phase and more of a…  _ weird _ obsession with setting my underwear on fire.” 

Five frowned at him. “While you were  _ wearing  _ it?”

“ _ No _ , no, he wasn’t  _ that  _ much of an asshole.”

They both looked at each other and snorted. 

“You mind if I look at a couple of these?” Five gestured to the packages and Luther shrugged. 

“Knock yourself out. I don’t even remember what’s in most of ‘em.”

Carefully, Five peeled off the seal and tipped the contents onto the floor in front of him. The bulk was made up of scientific notes and observations, star tracking, rock analysis, and hand drawn diagrams that looked as though they’d been lifted straight from an astronomy textbook. 

“These are good,” He said quietly as he flicked through. “You did all these?”

Luther looked a little uncomfortable at the compliment, hunching his shoulders and shifting where he was sat. Rather than push him for a response, Five continued sifting through the moon research. There was a small back of rock samples, and he found himself filled with a sense of childlike glee as he tipped one into the palm of his hand. Seeming to pick up on his excitement, Luther sat up slightly, watching him as he inspected the rock. 

“I have some better ones in my room I can show you,” He offered, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile. “I kept the bigger ones for myself.”

“And send the old man the dregs? I’m impressed.” Five smirked. “I’d like to see them.”

Luther’s bedroom hadn’t changed much since they were thirteen. There were a few more models, and a  _ lot  _ more records, but otherwise it was almost exactly as Five remembered it. While he thumbed through the collection of books on the shelf, Luther rifled through his drawer and pulled out a wooden box. 

“This is my best one,” He said proudly as he handed it to him, rocking back on his heels while Five examined the fist-sized rock inside. “Found it on my furthest trip from the base.”

“Have you done any analysis on it?”

“Yeah! Loads! Hang on, I’ll find the notes.”

Five had never taken much of an interest in astronomy when they were kids, but he was more than happy to sit and listen to Luther talking him through all his research, and loathed as he was to admit it, Luther actually knew a lot more than him about this stuff. It occurred to him while Luther was explaining something about gravity fluctuations, that this was probably the longest conversation he’d had with anyone in forty five years. It also occurred to him how nice it was to hear his brother’s voice, talking about something  _ other  _ than their impending doom. 

They talked into the evening, and Luther spent five minutes attempting to cook dinner before giving up and suggesting they order take out. Klaus made a brief appearance at the smell of food, leaving just as quickly as he arrived with a bag of prawn crackers clutched in his hands. Vanya walked by a little while later with a pizza box and disappeared into her room, and half an hour later they caught a glimpse of Allison heading to her room. It wasn’t until late in the night while Five was lying in bed, staring up at the equations on his wall, that he heard footsteps down the hall and the sound of Diego’s door closing. The nights were always the hardest, but the knowledge that all his siblings were back under one roof for the night helped sleep come a little easier, and the knowledge that at least one of them had something of a decent day might even get him through more than just a couple of hours tonight. 


	2. Diego

It was just after 3am when Five woke up, very aware of the sound of footsteps pacing the hallway a couple of floors below him. He lay in bed for a few minutes listening to the steps grow steadily louder and fainter as they moved up and down the hall like clockwork, before shoving his feet into his slippers and blinking down to the source of the sound. 

“Jesus!” Diego exclaimed when Five materialised a few feet in front of him, clutching his chest and staggering backwards. 

“Sorry,” Five said, unable to mask the smile creeping across his face. 

“Prick,” He muttered. “What are you doing down here?”

“I was going to ask you the same question.” 

Hanging his head, Diego shrugged and scuffed his boot against the floor like a kid caught stealing candy. 

“Can’t sleep,” He mumbled. 

“Doesn’t look like you tried very hard.” Five looked him up and down. He was still wearing the same jacket and jeans Five had seen him leave the house in that morning, with his vigilante gear slung over the top. “Or do you actually sleep in that stuff?” 

Diego held his middle finger up at him and turned on his heel, returning to his pacing while Five perched on the bench seat against the wall and watched him. He paced up and down the length of the hall three more times, glancing up every time he walked past and quickening his pace, before finally he ground to a halt again and turned to face him. 

“What do you  _ want _ , Five?” He demanded, staring at him expectantly. 

Shrugging, Five leant back against the wall. “For you to stop clomping around those, for a start.” He said, nodding to the heavy duty boots he was wearing. “I can hear you from two floors away.”

Some of the fight left Diego’s eyes at that and he slumped his shoulders, looking genuinely apologetic as he shuffled over and sat next to him. He was silent for a moment, save for the sound of his knuckles cracking as he flexed his fingers. 

“You know, I think I finally get why you’re so high strung all the time,” He said after a few minutes, “Knowing there’s some secret organisation out there watching you, controlling the timeline. Messes with your head.” He paused, looking up at him with a softer expression on his face. “How does it not drive you crazy?”

“Well,” Five said, cocking his head, “In the last three weeks I’ve been stuck in the body of a teenage boy, found out my sister had cataclysmic super powers, avoided  _ two  _ apocalypses, and escaped from a parallel universe. So it’s kinda been the least of my problems.”

The corner of Diego’s mouth twitched into a smile at that, but Five frowned, the pieces of the puzzle suddenly coming together in his head. 

“That’s why you’re down here, isn’t it? In case they come back.” It was more of a statement than a question, and the way Diego ducked his head to avoid his eyes was more than enough confirmation for him. “Diego, no offense, but I really don’t think The Commission is interested in you anymore.”

“It’s not  _ me _ I’m worried about,” He mumbled. “Lila was trying to  _ kill  _ you. All of you. And I let her get away. If she goes back to The Commission she can orchestrate another attack and this whole mess starts all over again.”

“She won’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because she  _ likes  _ you, Diego. For once your vacuous charm might have actually saved our asses.”

Diego considered that for a moment before shaking his head. 

“She seemed real  _ pissed  _ at you though,” He said, looking back up at him. “The hell did you do?”

Shrinking in on himself ashamedly, Five looked down at his hands. “I might’ve… sorta killed her parents.”

“ _ Jesus _ , Five.”

“Yeah.” He nodded. 

The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Five could see Diego’s knee bouncing restlessly, his eyes darting over to the front door every few seconds, and he couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Diego had always had a hard time switching off, even when they were kids, and the last few weeks had clearly done a number on him. The more Five watched him the more he realised that he looked less like a brooding vigilante and more like a complete nervous wreck. He shuffled closer until their arms were pressed together, softening his voice as he spoke to him again. 

“Look, I get it, Diego-”

“No you don’t,” He interrupted. “You had a way out. You always have a way out. Even with all that apocalypse shit, you could still time travel and fix it.”

Five blinked at him. “I was stuck there for forty five  _ years  _ before I figured it out.”

“But it kept you going, right? That tiny shred of hope that  _ maybe  _ you could still save everyone? I don’t have that. I let my best friend die, I let mom die, I let the fucking  _ president  _ die, I let Lila go and… I just have to live with that. There’s no workaround. They’re just gone. So I’m gonna sit here and I’m gonna guard that door because I  _ can’t  _ lose anyone else. Okay?”

Nodding, Five fell silent again. It was becoming increasingly obvious that nothing he said was going to persuade his brother back to bed, so he decided to try a different approach, blinking back up the stairs before Diego had a chance to say anything else. 

He reappeared outside Diego’s bedroom, pushing the door open and glancing around. The room had always been bare. Diego had never shown any interest in decorating it, save for the dartboard hung on the wall, the collection of books and comics by the bed, and a handful of trinkets he kept on his shelves. The open suitcase on the floor and dirty t-shirt slung over the back of the chair were the only things making the room look remotely lived in. As sad as it was, Five was confident he could find what he was looking for in the unchanged room, and he made his way over to the closet. 

Most of the clothes had been cleared out from inside, but Five was more interested in the trunk at the bottom, stuffed with winter scarves, hats, and a thick, multicoloured blanket Grace made as a birthday present after Diego had complained about how cold his bedroom got. Apparently their father decided it was easier to have their mom knit a blanket than it was for him to just fix the drafty window. Or offer him one of the other thirty five draft-free bedrooms. Either way, Diego had loved it, and often wandered around the house between training sessions with it wrapped around him tightly. 

The blanket was looking a little worse for wear after years sitting in the bottom of the closet. The colours had faded, the edges were frayed, and it was dotted with what looked like moth holes. Still, Five slung it over his shoulder before blinking down to the lounge to grab some pillows from the couch. Finally, he stopped off at the kitchen and swiped a pack of cookies he’d seen Vanya hide a couple of days ago, before making his way back to the hallway on foot.

Diego was still sitting on the bench where he left him, glancing up when he heard Five approaching and rolling his eyes. 

“What’s it gonna take for you to leave me alone?” He asked.

Ignoring him, Five set down the cookies and pillows on the bench and started unfolding the blanket. He could see Diego’s eyes widening when he realised what it was, grabbing at the fabric as soon as it was in reach while Five tried to drape it over his shoulders. 

“Can you lose the knives?” He muttered with a frustrated huff. “This thing’s got enough holes without you tearing it to shreds.”

For quite possibly the first time in his life, Diego didn’t argue, unclipping the harness and dropping it on the floor with a heavy metallic thud. 

“Where did you find this?” Diego asked as he wrapped the blanket tightly around himself, a hint of suspicion still apparent in his voice. 

“Your closet.” Five sat beside him, plumping up one of the cushions and tucking it between his back and the wall. “Where else would it be?”

“I lost it,” He said quietly. “Actually, Klaus lost it. I lent it to him one night and he got so high he couldn’t remember where he left it and… and there are so many rooms in this stupid house that I never had enough time to try and look for it. I guess mom found it and put it back.” 

Five nodded, tearing open the pack of cookies and watched as his brother tentatively took one. 

“I haven’t poisoned them,” He said flatly and the corner of Diego’s mouth twitched into a smile. “They’re Vanya’s, anyway.”

Diego paused mid-bite and quirked his eyebrow at him. “Did you  _ ask?  _ ”

“She left them in the communal kitchen.” Five shrugged. “That makes them communal cookies.” 

Chuckling quietly, Diego continued nibbling the cookie, and Five watched as the smile slowly faded from his face again and he hugged the blanket tighter around himself. 

“Why are you doing this, Five?” He asked, lowering his voice to barely more than a whisper. 

“Because I know what it’s like,” Five admitted. “Feeling like you failed all the people you care about.” 

Diego looked at him, and for a moment all Five could see was the dead body he’d dug out of the rubble, flicking his eyes away and looking down at his hands. The image was quickly replaced with one of flames about to engulf his family, and another of them being gunned down in front of him. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he took a bite of his cookie and shifted uncomfortably. 

Next to him, he could see Diego bending over, untying his boots and turning to stretch his legs out across the bench. Five was about to offer him a pillow when he felt Diego’s head rest onto his shoulder, nestling against him and sighing. This wasn’t exactly what Five had in mind when he brought the bedding down, but there was something oddly comforting about the weight of his brother slumped against him, being able to feel his shoulders rising and falling slowly as he breathed, and he found himself resting his head against Diego’s. 

“Sorry I was such a dick earlier,” Diego said softly after a few minutes. “Must’ve sucked. That whole apocalypse thing.”

“It wasn’t great,” Five agreed. “But I did get forty five years of peace from Luther’s lecturing so, you know, silver linings.”

Diego snorted and Five sniggered. “Besides,” He said. “I’d still take the apocalypse over three months in the loony bin.”

“Oh, yeah, you would have hated it.” Diego nodded, pausing for a moment before adding, “Staff probably would’ve been nicer to you though.”

“Why?”

“Because it was the sixties, Five. They were  _ super  _ racist. Like, not-even-trying-to- _ hide _ -it racist.”

“Oh, right, yeah,” He said quietly. “Shit.”

“Mm,” Diego hummed. “Besides that it wasn’t so bad. Food was edible, patients were nice, I got  _ real  _ good at making jewellery. Plus I was sedated out of my head half the time so I didn’t know  _ what  _ was going on. I was probably more relaxed in there than I’ve ever been in my life.”

“That’s… troubling,” Five observed and Diego chuckled. 

“Yeah, I try not to dwell on it.” 

They were both quiet for a moment, and Diego reached behind him to fish another cookie out of the pack. 

“I was actually thinking that I might… carry on with the therapy stuff though,” He said, nestling his head against Five’s shoulder. “Except, you know, maybe  _ not  _ with a therapist that thinks I’m having paranoid delusions about the president this time.” 

Five nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.”

“Which part?”

“All of it.”

He could hear Diego yawning next to him, trying to disguise it with a cough, and suddenly became aware of his own tiredness again. There was a slight numbness in his arm where Diego was leaning on him, but he didn’t make any attempt to move, settling back against the pillow. 

“You should get some sleep,” He said and Diego shook his head. 

“I’m not moving,” He muttered. 

“I didn’t say you had to move. I’ll stay and keep watch.”

Diego was quiet for a moment while he considered that, sighing and shifting as he tried to get comfortable. 

“You really think The Commission are done with us?” He asked, his voice softer. 

“I don’t know,” Five admitted. “This family seems to have a habit of screwing with the timeline. We should be safe for the next few hours though.” 

Nodding, Diego changed position, lying across the bench with his feet in Five’s lap and his head propped up on a pillow. 

“Wake me up in an hour, yeah?” He said as he wrapped his blanket around himself. 

Within a few minutes Diego’s breathing evened out, and Five waited another ten minutes until he was  _ certain  _ he was asleep before blinking them both back to his bedroom. Diego stirred when they rematerialised on his bed, and Five sat frozen in place until he started snoring again. He tucked his brother up in the duvet and laid the blanket on top, pulling up a chair to sit in. 

An hour passed, and he didn’t wake Diego up. But he did get up and fix the drafty window. 


	3. Allison

Five’s morning began with Diego thoroughly cussing him out for letting him sleep through the night, followed by pancakes with Luther in the kitchen. It didn’t take long for the two of them to get the rest of Luther’s moon research into the lounge, where they sat and continued sorting through everything. 

It was close to midday when Diego appeared in the archway, with his blanket in one hand and a sewing kit clutched in the other. Both he and Luther stopped in their tracks when they saw each other, and Five watched them both anxiously while they assessed each other. Eventually, Luther went back to the notes he was sorting, and Diego padded over to the couch, sitting a few feet away from them and silently darning the holes in the blanket. 

An hour passed, and Diego joined them on the floor, picking up one of the packs and examining it curiously. 

“The hell is all this junk?” He asked, ripping the bag open and unceremoniously dumping the contents onto the floor. 

“Four years of moon research,” Luther said flatly, and Five stifled a laugh as Diego awkwardly attempted to shuffle the papers back into a neat pile. “Dad never looked at any of it.”

Diego nodded thoughtfully. “What a prick.”

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, as if waiting for the inevitable “I told you so”. Instead, Diego looked over at the stack of notes that Luther and Five had deemed unworthy of keeping. 

“What are you gonna do with those?” 

“I don’t know.” Luther shrugged. “Shred them I guess.”

“No way, that’ll take forever,” He argued, pausing for a moment and lowering his voice like they were kids plotting a prank. “Wanna go outside and burn them?” 

Luther seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, okay.”

While the two of them discussed the specifics of this new plan, Five’s attention was diverted by the sound of the front door opening and closing, and high heels gradually making their way across the hall. A few moments later, Allison walked past, stopping when she saw the three of them in the lounge. She locked eyes with him for the briefest of seconds, long enough for him to see she was crying, before turning her head away and hurrying up the stairs. Luther and Diego were still talking, seemingly oblivious to their sister’s arrival, so Five left them to it and blinked up the stairs after her. 

The door to Allison’s bedroom was slightly ajar, and he could hear her muffled sniffles from outside. Knocking tentatively on the door, he pushed it open just enough to see her sat on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. 

“You okay?” He asked and she looked up at him, nodding despite all the evidence to the contrary. 

She didn’t send him away, so Five closed the door behind him and grabbed a box of tissues from her dresser, sitting beside her and offering them out to her. 

“Thanks,” She said in a croaking voice as she took one and loudly blew her nose, a small smile appearing on her face when she saw Five’s grimace. 

The two of them sat quietly while Allison dabbed her eyes with another tissue. Each time it seemed like she was starting to calm herself down, she broke down sobbing all over again. Five had never been good with emotions, and he wasn’t sure if him being there was helping or hindering, but she still hadn’t made any attempt to move away from him so he stayed put. 

After a few more minutes Allison took a deep breath, slowly exhaling and leaning back on her hands. 

“I was supposed to be at a therapy session yesterday,” She said quietly, before Five could ask. “It’s one of the custody conditions for me to see Claire. With everything going on I  _ completely  _ forgot about my appointment and now… I’m no closer to seeing my daughter than when I was stuck in the sixties.”

Frowning, Five turned towards her. “That’s not fair,” He argued, shaking his head. “You’ve been away for three years. You’ve travelled through time  _ twice.  _ It would be impossible to remember something like that.”

“But they don’t  _ know  _ that, Five. It’s not like I can stand in a court of law and tell a judge I missed my mandated therapy because I was busy in 1963 organising a civil rights protest. Patrick already thinks I’ve lost my mind, he’d cut off communication completely if I tried to tell him the truth.”

“He sounds like an asshole.”

Allison laughed at that, nodding and dabbing her eyes with another tissue. “Yeah, he is,” She agreed, pausing for a moment and shaking her head. “No he’s not. He’s just trying to keep her safe. If it was the other way around I’d probably do the same thing, but…”

“But it still sucks,” Five finished for her when she trailed off. 

“Yeah. It  _ really  _ sucks.” She hung her head and sighed. “I haven’t seen her in three years. I haven’t even heard her  _ voice _ .”

“I’m sorry,” He said quietly, the guilt from scattering his family across the timeline still at the forefront of his mind, but Allison shook her head. 

“It’s not your fault,” She told him. “We all knew the risks. Without you she wouldn’t even be here. None of us would. God, our lives are so messed up.”

Allison buried her head in her hands and, on a whim, Five put his arm around her, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. 

“I mean, how did I ever let it get this far?” She said, looking back up at him. “Rumouring my own  _ daughter?  _ What kind of mother does that? And then I have the nerve to sit here feeling sorry for myself, as if I’m not the one who created this whole mess.”

“I don’t think it was entirely your fault,” Five said with a shrug. “Dad’s morals were…  _ questionable _ at best. He never gave you any boundaries with your powers, so you never needed to learn how to control yourself.”

“No. Bad upbringing or not, I should have  _ known  _ what I was doing was wrong,” She argued. “It shouldn’t have taken losing my child to realise that. Dad didn’t make me do those things, I  _ chose  _ to, and I didn’t even see anything wrong with it.” 

“I think most people would be lying if they said they wouldn’t do the same thing, if they had your powers.”

“Maybe,” Allison said quietly. “But that doesn’t make it okay.” She sighed, picking at her fingernails. “I spent the last three years clinging on to all the good memories I had of her, thinking of all the things I’d say if I saw her again, and now I’m back here in the real world and… I’m not even sure if I deserve that chance. That night at the bowling alley, before the apocalypse, she sounded  _ so  _ happy on the phone with Luther. I don’t want to ruin that again.”

Five frowned, shifting his whole body so he was facing her, and speaking so firmly that her head immediately snapped up to look at him. 

“You did a bad thing, Alli. That doesn’t make you a bad person. And it sure as hell doesn’t make you a bad mother.” Sighing, he softened his voice before he spoke again. “I know I missed out on a lot while I was gone but… I still know you. And I know you deserve to see your daughter.”

Allison was quiet for a moment, but then the corner of her mouth twitched into a smile, and he could tell she was fighting not to laugh. 

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing,” She said, shaking her head. “It’s just… it’s so weird hearing you talk so seriously when you still look so little.”

“Seriously?” He said flatly. “I’m trying to be sincere here.”

“I know, I’m sorry. Thank you.” She dabbed her eyes with the tissue she was holding and smiled at him. “You’ve really mellowed in your old age, huh?” 

“I wouldn’t go that far,” He quipped and she laughed. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, balling up her wad of tissues and tossing them in the trash. “Yeah I’ll be fine. I have another therapy session in a week so… I’ll just have to keep myself busy until then.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard in this house.”

“I know right.” Allison paused, her brow furrowing as she looked at him. “Can you smell  _ burning?  _ ”

Five sniffed the air and frowned as the smell of smoke grew too strong to ignore. 

“Probably Luther and Diego.”

“Should I be worried?” 

“They’ve actually been getting on for the last hour,” He told her, snorting when she quirked her eyebrow at him. 

“Okay, now I’m  _ definitely  _ worried,” She said as she got to her feet. “Let’s find them before they burn our  _ entire  _ inheritance.”

Two fire extinguishers and a stern lecture later, and Five found himself sat at the kitchen table while three of his siblings attempted to make lunch together, bickering over the “correct” way to cut a sandwich. And it was the closest to normal Five had gotten in forty five years. 


	4. Klaus

It was 1:30am, and he, Luther, Diego, and Allison had been locked in a very intense game of monopoly for the last five hours. Five and Luther were playing as a pair since, about ten minutes into the game, it became very apparent that Luther had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. He seemed to have mostly figured out the rules now, but that was doing little to save him, or any of them, from Diego’s ruthless strategy. 

“That’s another thousand,” He said smugly, and Allison let out a string of curses as she counted out the notes. 

“I need a drink,” She muttered as she began sifting through the steadily growing collection of empty beer bottles. “Which one of you assholes drank all the booze?”

Diego pointed an accusing finger at Luther, who let out an incriminating hiccup before he could even attempt to defend himself. Rolling her eyes, Allison folded her arms and shrugged. 

“Well, I refuse to continue until someone brings me another drink. I  _ know  _ one of you must have a secret stash somewhere in the house.” She paused, letting the silence hang over them for a minute before throwing her hands up. “Seriously?  _ Nobody?  _ ”

“I drained mine two days ago,” Diego mumbled. 

“ _ Technically  _ I only started drinking last week,” Luther said. “You know, in this timeline.” 

The three of them turned to Five, who was about to admit that he’d managed to get through the last of their father’s collection over the past few days when an idea hit him. 

“I know where to find some,” He announced, getting to his feet. “I’ll be right back.” 

Before the others could say anything, he blinked out of sight, rematerializing in the corridor outside Klaus’ bedroom. The silence was jarring after spending most of the evening watching his siblings drinking and laughing at stupid jokes, and it suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t actually  _ seen  _ Klaus all day. 

There was a sliver of light shining through the gap under the door, but even when they were little, Five had never known Klaus to switch his lights off. He wondered, briefly, what their household electric bill must be like. Every year Klaus seemed to have more lights in that room. Who was even going to be paying that now that dad was gone? Why was he worrying about household bills?  _ Christ,  _ he was getting old. Shaking his head to himself, he pressed his ear up against the cool wood of the door, listening for any signs of life on the other side. 

When they were kids, before he left, it was always easy to tell when Klaus was around. He made noises everywhere he went, whether he was singing, whistling, or just mumbling nonsense to himself. Nowadays that was gone, and he moved about the place like a ghost, tucking himself away in the background so effectively that Five forgot he was there a lot of the time. It was the change that struck him the most when he returned, more-so because the rest of their siblings seemed so  _ oblivious  _ to it. They still rolled their eyes at his little quips and nonsensical remarks, but none of them seemed to notice how… toned down he was now. 

The sound of shuffling papers inside the room caught his attention and he knocked on the door, waiting a few seconds, then knocking again. When he still had no reply, he pushed the door open, poking his head around hesitantly. 

Klaus was lying backwards on the bed with his legs propped up against the wall, with headphones that didn’t appear to be connected to anything over his ears and a sketchbook in his hand. He was so focused on his scribbling that he still didn’t notice Five’s arrival until he loudly cleared his throat, causing Klaus to jump and throw the chalk he was holding dramatically into the air. 

“Christ!” He gasped, clutching the sketchbook against his chest and pulling the headphones off his ears. “Did nobody ever teach you to  _ knock?  _ ”

“I did knock,” Five said. “Twice.”

“Oh.” He tossed the pad aside, sitting upright and folding his legs on the bed. “In that case, what can I do for you?”

“Um…” Five rocked awkwardly back on his heels and looked down at the floor. “I need to borrow some liquor.”

Klaus cocked his eyebrow at that, the corner of his mouth twitching into a crooked smile. 

“Why?” He asked. “You drink your way through daddy’s whiskey cabinet already?”

How Klaus could possibly have known about that was a mystery, but Five didn’t ask. Instead, he stayed silent, glaring at him and trying to ignore the strange mix of guilt and embarrassment swirling in his gut. 

“Wait, did you  _ really?  _ ” Klaus’ smile faded as his expression turned serious. “Jesus, Five, I think you might have a problem. And that’s coming from  _ me _ .” 

“I’m fine,” Five said flatly. 

Why had he ever thought this would be a good idea? Klaus had an unnerving perceptiveness about him, able to sniff out secrets and find exactly the right thing to say to push your buttons. Fortunately, he was also  _ notoriously  _ easy to distract. 

“What are you drawing?” He asked, glancing over at the discarded sketchbook on the mattress and smirking when Klaus’ eyes lit up. 

“Oh! Well, I’ve been trying to capture the last three years in art form. You know, to cope. So far I’ve come up with this.”

Five wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but when Klaus held the drawing up he found himself coming closer to inspect it. Most of the page was covered in smudged black charcoal with a few streaks of colour, and as Five got closer he could make out faces and twisted limbs in the shadows. 

“You hate it.” Klaus decided when Five didn’t immediately say anything.

“No,” Five said, shaking his head as he examined it. “It’s interesting.”

“That’s just a polite way of saying you hate it.”

“If I hated it, I wouldn’t be polite about it.”

Sniggering, Klaus flipped the sketchbook around again to look at his work. Part of him knew the others would be wondering where he was, and had probably found their own drinks by now, but there was a sad look in his brother’s eye and Five couldn’t bring himself to sneak away. Instead, he hoisted himself up onto the bed next to him. 

“You okay?” He asked and Klaus nodded. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay,” He said, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than anybody else. “I’m fine, it’s just… I don’t know. Do you ever feel like… like you’re not…” He trailed off again, making circular motions with his hands as he tried to put his thoughts into words. “I’ve spent upwards of four years in the sixties, and now I’m back here I’m not really sure what to do with myself, you know? Obviously  _ you  _ know. You spent, what? Forty years in the future? Must have been weird coming back to normality.”

Five nodded slowly, looking down at his hands. 

“And the weird thing,” Klaus continued, “Is that I feel more out of place here than I ever did in Dallas, or in Vietnam. I mean, yeah the raging homophobia was kind of a bummer and I had to watch the love of my life die in my arms, and I accidentally started a cult and ruined a bunch of people’s lives, and sent the aforementioned love of my life  _ back  _ to his death, and lost Ben, but besides all  _ that _ … I think it was the first place I was actually treated like a person.” He paused, chewing on his lip and staring fixedly down at his sketchbook before declaring, “This needs more blue,” and getting up to grab his chalks. 

Leaning back against the wall, Five watched as he inspected what looked like three identical blues, changing his mind several times before settling on one.

“What was his name?” He asked as Klaus sat back down.

“Hm?”

“The aforementioned love of your life.”

“Oh. Um…” Klaus paused for a moment, drawing a sharp line of blue across the page before carefully starting to smudge it out with his finger. “Dave. His name was Dave. He was sweet.  _ Little _ bit of a people pleaser sometimes but… really sweet. Once the war was over we were gonna get a farmhouse somewhere and start rearing goats and he  _ insisted  _ that we name one Vivian because he was a big Guys and Dolls fan but then… well, you know.”

“You never mentioned him before,” Five said, casting his mind back to the morning he found Klaus recovering from his first trip back in time. He’d known something was wrong, but with so much going on he never got a chance to ask him about it. 

“Well, in my defense, Five, I think this is the most interest you’ve taken in my personal life in all of your fifty-eight years.” 

Five nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry. About Dave, I mean.”

“It’s okay. I never thought I’d have anything like that, ever, so even just getting a few months with him was more than I ever expected.” He sighed and looked down fondly at the dog tags still hanging around his neck. “And at least he got to be himself for a little while, you know? Just a shame I couldn’t get us out of there sooner.”

“Did he know about the time travel?” 

“Yeah.” Klaus sniggered. “Well, I  _ told  _ him about it. I’m not sure he really believed me though. It was more like a story I’d tell him on bad nights, about how one day we’d go back to the future and live in my huge mansion. I don’t think it was ever  _ real _ to him. He still listened like it was real though. I think that’s why I liked him.”

They both fell silent for a moment, and Five was aware that he’d left his siblings to their own devices downstairs for almost half an hour now. 

“A few of us are playing monopoly downstairs,” He said, nudging Klaus’ arm gently. “Wanna join?”

“I don’t know.” Klaus shrugged. “I’m not much good at board games without Ben helping me cheat.”

Five frowned, now determined to get his brother downstairs one way or another. 

“Okay, but you  _ could  _ help me get them more drunk. Allison and Diego were about five minutes away from a fight when I left.”

He could see the corner of Klaus’ mouth twitch into a smile at that, looking up at him with a mischievous glint in his eye. 

“Is that why you wanted the drinks?”

“Do you have any?” 

“Don’t ask stupid questions.” Klaus hopped to his feet, back to his usual energetic self, and clambered onto his desk to reach a duffle bag from the top of his closet. “I was gonna tip these down the toilet in the morning, but it did seem a shame to waste them.” 

He tossed the bag over to him and followed him back down the hall, swinging his arms erratically. And for a minute Five thought he heard him humming quietly to himself. 


	5. Vanya

“I think we should watch one of Allison’s movies.”

“ _ No _ . Absolutely not!”

The five of them were in the lounge, and had spent the last twenty minutes trying to agree on a movie to watch. Five had removed himself from the conversation early on, settling himself in the comfiest spot on the couch and slowly making his way through the bowl of popcorn Luther had microwaved. 

“Come oooooon,” Klaus whined, rolling dramatically onto his back on the floor. “Some of them are good!”

“What do you mean  _ some  _ of…” Allison paused and looked up from the pile of dvds she’d been sifting through. “Wait, you’ve seen my movies?” 

“Are you kidding? Ally, you’re the only person in this family I wasn’t  _ embarrassed  _ to be related to.”

“I liked the one where you played a spy exposing corrupt political figures,” Diego piped up from behind the couch, precariously balancing another book on top of a sleeping Luther’s head. “Hey, I’ve got a copy back at my place. If you sign it I might be able to make a few bucks.”

Allison tossed a cushion at his head and he laughed, waking Luther in the process and sending the tower of books crashing to the ground. 

“What just happened?” Luther grumbled sleepily. “Did you guys pick a movie yet?”

“I think Five should get to pick,” Allison said firmly, folding her arms and looking over at him. “You must have missed out on  _ so  _ many classics being stuck in the future.” 

His siblings turned towards him expectantly and he sunk back into his seat, relieved when Klaus sat upright before he could try and think of a response. 

“Hey, where’s Vanya?” He asked. “We should see if she wants to join.” 

“I haven’t seen her all day,” Allison said, and the others shook their heads. 

They decided to split up to try and find her. Luther checked her bedroom, Diego went to the kitchen, Allison searched the library, and Klaus headed out to the courtyard. Five was tasked with jumping to each of the nineteen bathrooms to see if any of them were occupied. He was just about to knock on the door of bathroom number twelve when he heard Luther’s voice booming through the house. 

“Hey guys? I know where Vanya is.”

It took Five a minute to locate him, in a part of the house he’d never been to before. The others had already arrived before him, and were all gathered around what looked like a metal elevator shaft. 

“Since when do we have an elevator?” He asked, making the four of them jump out of their skins. 

“Jesus, Five,” Luther muttered, before clearing his throat and gesturing back towards the shaft. “Dad locked Vanya up down there. To keep her powers under control.”

“And  _ someone _ decided it would be a good idea to lock her up again,” Diego added in a pointed tone, while Allison and Klaus gave him matching disapproving looks. 

“I already said I was sorry. Can we  _ please  _ move past that?” 

“Why would she go back down there?” Klaus asked, holding on to one of the metal bars and peering over the edge. “You think she’s okay?”

“Someone should go talk to her,” Allison said and Klaus cocked his eyebrow at her. 

“Well I’d love to, Ally, but unfortunately I haven’t  _ quite  _ mastered the power of levitation yet.”

“He’s right.” Luther nodded. “Without the elevator we’re stuck up here.”

“I’ll go,” Diego announced loudly, pushing him out of the way. “I can climb down.” 

The four of them watched while Diego peered cautiously down, and out of the corner of his eye Five saw Allison lean in towards him. 

“Are you gonna say anything?” She asked and Five shrugged. 

“Give him a minute. He’ll figure it out.”

Clinging on to the bars, Diego leant over the edge and let out a small squeaking noise. 

“ _ Wow _ , that’s high,” He mumbled, spinning back around suddenly. “Wait, Five, you can teleport, right? You can just jump down there.”

“Well observed, Diego,” Five said while Allison attempted to stifle a laugh. 

Diego narrowed his eyes at him and Five snorted, before squeezing his fists and jumping down into the elevator below. 

Pushing the cage door of the elevator open, he stepped out into a gloomy looking tunnel. Small pendant lights hung from the ceiling, casting a dim, orange glow against the grey stone walls. 

“Vanya?” He called, his voice echoing through the tunnel. 

There was no response, so he started making his way cautiously across the stone floor. He could see a metal door at the other end of the tunnel, with a wheel to lock it and a small window that was thick with dust. There was movement on the other side, and when he pressed his face to it he could see Vanya on the other side, with her eyes shut and her bow running silently across the strings of her violin. He tried tapping on the glass, but it quickly became apparent that the room was soundproofed, so instead he waited, watching her play her violin until, as if sensing his presence, she stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. 

Setting her violin down, she pushed the door open and blinked at him. 

“What are you doing down here?” She asked, tucking her hair behind her ear shyly. 

“I was gonna ask you the same thing.” 

“I come down here a lot.” She shrugged. “It’s the only place I can practice without being interrupted.” 

“Surely there are other options besides our father’s sadistic human cage.” 

Vanya sniggered. “Yeah, probably,” She agreed with a nod, perching herself on the step in front of the door and looking up at him. “So why are you here?”

“We were looking for you.”

“We?”

“The others wanted to watch a movie together,” He said as he sat down next to her. “We thought you’d wanna join.” 

“Oh.” Vanya was quiet for a moment, hanging her head and picking at her fingernails. “I don’t know. I don’t wanna make it weird.”

“Vanya, you’re our sister,” He said. “You’re not making anything weird.”

“I know. I know, it’s just… I don’t know. You guys did everything together when we were kids. It’s just hard not to feel like I’m intruding sometimes, you know?”

Five nodded. After forty-five years away from his family, missing out on his siblings’ entire adult lives, it was hard not to feel like an outsider a lot of the time. 

“I really missed you after you left,” She said after a few minutes. “You were the only person I really talked to back then.”

“Yeah, I missed you too.” Five took a deep breath, trying not to think too hard about his time away. “I looked for you. When I didn’t find your body with the others, I thought maybe you’d survived.” 

Sighing, Vanya rested her head against Five’s shoulder and folded her arms tightly. 

“You know, if it wasn’t for me, there never would have been an apocalypse for you to get stuck in.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“I literally blew up the moon, Five.”

“Because we provoked you,” Five argued. “None of them blame you for what happened.”

“I know they don’t,” Vanya said quietly. “It’s just a weird thing to have to get over.”

Five nodded in understanding and let his head rest lightly against hers, the physical closeness still feeling strange to him. 

“So what movie were you guys gonna watch?” She asked and Five shrugged. 

“I don’t know,” He admitted, sitting upright again. “Nobody’s been able to agree on one yet.” 

Vanya sniggered at that, shaking her head despairingly. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

“So you’re coming?” 

“Yeah, okay.” She nodded. 

Smiling, Five got to his feet, but Vanya grabbed his hand before he could head back to the elevator. 

“Five, wait,” She said, looking up at him when he turned back towards her. “Do you… wanna borrow some clothes?”

“Huh?”

“It’s just… It must feel a little weird walking around in school clothes, right? And I’m pretty sure most of my stuff would fit you.” 

His clothes had been just about the last of his priorities over the past few weeks, and he hadn’t given it much thought since things had gone back to normal. Looking down at the uniform he was wearing, he nodded, picking up her violin and transporting the pair of them up to her bedroom. 

Vanya bought most of her clothes in a size up, and they fit him pretty well. A pair of jeans that were too long for her fit perfectly on his legs, and he picked out a plain t-shirt and soft, grey hoodie to go with them. There was a strange look on Vanya’s face when he emerged from the bathroom in his new outfit, and he cocked his eyebrow at her. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” She said, shaking her head. “I just realised I’ve never seen you in  _ anything _ other than that uniform before.” 

Five didn’t want to admit that he’d never worn a hoodie and jeans before, so he just smiled and followed her back down the hall to where their siblings were waiting. It felt strange wearing something that hadn’t been perfectly tailored for him, or fashioned out of scraps he’d found in the apocalypse. It was as though he’d forgotten what to do with his body, every movement feeling slightly alien without the usual restriction of his uniform. 

“Aw, look! Five’s wearing people clothes!” Klaus exclaimed when they found them back in the lounge. 

Averse the attention he was getting, Five shoved his hands in his pockets and scuttled across the room to the couch, sitting next to Allison and making sure to leave enough space for Vanya beside him. 

“You look nice,” Allison said softly, the sincerity in her voice reassuring him a little. 

“What are we watching?” Vanya asked as she plopped herself onto the couch, yelping when Diego sprung up from behind them with a dvd clutched in his hands. 

“We are watching Star Wars, babyyy,” He said excitedly, waving the box in their faces before hopping over the couch towards the TV. 

“He actually won an argument?” Five commented, loud enough to earn himself a flash of Diego’s middle finger. “What swung it?”

“Luther,” Allison explained, gesturing to where he was sat next to her. “Apparently he’s  _ never  _ seen Star Wars.”

“Which is a  _ crime _ , by the way,” Diego added. 

“I was on the moon for four years, guys.”

“Lame excuse.”

“What better place to watch Star Wars than in  _ actual  _ space?” Klaus piped up as he scooted across the floor towards them, settling himself on a pile of cushions at Vanya’s feet. “Hey, what happened to the popcorn?” 

“Oh, was that supposed to be for the movie?” Diego sat on the floor next to Klaus, who immediately hit him over the head with a pillow. 

“You pig!” 

“What do you care anyway? I thought you were carb free now?”

“Popcorn isn’t a carb.”

“The hell is it then!?” 

“Klaus, you had a french fry sandwich for breakfast,” Luther said, and Klaus hurled another pillow his way. 

While the three of them bickered, Five nestled himself back against the couch cushions. After years of silence and loneliness, the sound of his brothers arguing was a comfort, and the feel of his sisters sitting on either side of him made him feel safer than he’d ever been in his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diego is right. What the hell IS popcorn.


	6. Five

When Five opened his eyes he was still on the couch, but everything else was gone. The walls around him were reduced to rubble and ashes, and smoke burned his throat every time he took a breath. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. Scrambling to his feet, he took a few steps forward, looking around for any sign of his siblings. No matter which way he turned, everything looked the same. Nothing but the bleak, cloudy sky and silence and nothingness. 

“No,” He croaked, dropping back down onto his knees and throwing his hands over his eyes. “No, no, no. Stop. Wake up, wake up.” 

He stayed there for a moment before tentatively moving his hands away from his face and looking around. The walls were still standing, with a few dimly-lit lamps illuminating the room, and his siblings were sleeping, nestled up against each other on the couch. White noise buzzed from the TV, the movie having long since finished, and Five let out a relieved sigh, dragging his hand down his face. 

Quietly, he padded out of the room and made his way down to the kitchen, the images of the apocalypse and his siblings’ corpses fresh in his mind once again. Even though the air was clean again, his throat still felt as though it was closing in on itself each time he tried to take a breath. His eyes stung each time he blinked, and his skin felt both too hot and too cold at the same time. 

Once he reached the kitchen, flicking on the single exposed bulb that cast a dim yellow light across the room, he headed to the cupboard for his well-stocked stash of marshmallows and peanut butter. His tastes had changed a lot since he was thirteen, but somehow the childhood snack still comforted him. He cut his sandwich in half and sat silently on one of the bare, wooden chairs, his hands still trembling as he clutched the bread tightly. 

Down the hall, a floorboard creaked, and Five curled in on himself like a kid afraid of being caught out of bed. Instead of his father coming to lecture him, Luther poked his head around the door, his brow furrowing in concern when he saw him. 

“Five?” He said as he quietly pushed the door open. “What are you doing down here?” 

“Nothing. I was just…” He gestured down to his sandwich and gave a half-hearted shrug. “I got hungry.” 

Luther didn’t look convinced, pulling up another chair and sitting beside him. 

“Is it… Can I help?” He asked and Five shook his head. 

“I can handle this myself.”

“Sure. But you don’t have to.”

Before Five could respond, Diego appeared in the doorway, half-asleep with his blanket wrapped around his shoulders. 

“What’s going on?” He grumbled, his eyes falling on the sandwich in Five’s hand. “You guys getting midnight snacks without me?”

“ _ I  _ was having a snack. By myself,” Five said but Diego ignored him, grabbing the other half of his sandwich from the table and sitting at his feet as he took a bite. 

“This is disgusting.”

“You don’t have to eat it,” Luther pointed out.

“Nah. I’m gonna.” 

A small smile crept across Five’s face, quickly wiped out again as another flash of his siblings’ lifeless, bloody faces crossed his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt hot tears pricking the corners of them, threatening to spill over. 

“What are you guys doing?” Allison’s voice came from the other side of the room. “Five? Are you okay?” 

Keeping his eyes closed, Five nodded. He could hear footsteps approaching, and felt warm hands cupping his face, stroking his cheeks comfortingly. 

“Hey,” She said softly as he opened his eyes to look at her. “We’re here. It’s okay.” 

He felt Luther’s large hand squeeze his shoulder in acknowledgement, and Diego bump his head against his knee, and when Allison wrapped her arms around him to pull him into a hug, he didn’t fight it, pressing his face into her shoulder and clinging to the fabric of her t-shirt. With his face hidden, he stopped trying to force the tears back, and if Allison could feel them soaking through her shirt, she didn’t say anything. 

“I keep going back there,” He said quietly and Allison nodded. 

“Going where? Oh, hello.” Klaus’ voice piped up. “Hey, what’s going on, little guy?” He asked, and Five heard the table creak as Klaus clambered on top of it, ruffling his hair affectionately. “Nightmare? I’ve been there.”

“More like a flashback,” Five responded, his voice muffled against Allison’s chest. 

“Oh, I’ve been  _ there  _ too. That’s rough. You want a cigarette?”

“Klaus!” Allison snapped. 

“I’m  _ kidding _ , Ally. Come on.” 

Five sniggered, and from the sounds his siblings made, Klaus must have pulled some kind of face at Allison in response. 

“Five? Guys?” 

They all looked over as Vanya walked through the door, taking one look at them before making her way over and sitting on the chair beside him. She rested her head silently on Five’s shoulder while the others huddled in closer. 

“This was a lot more comfortable on the couch,” She said after a few minutes and they all laughed. 

“You feeling any better, Five?” Diego asked and he nodded. 

“My therapist used to tell me to focus on five things in the room,” Vanya suggested. “It’s supposed to ground you.” 

So Five closed his eyes and tried to focus on five things. Luther’s sturdy hand on his back. Diego’s head resting heavily on his knee. Allison’s arms still wrapped tightly around him. Klaus’ fingers carding soothingly through his hair. Vanya’s shoulder pressed flush against his arm. After so many years on his own, he finally had his family around him. And that was enough.


End file.
